NFL Record? With $90 Million Over 12 Months, Aaron Rodgers Will Be Near No. 1 Across All Sports

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2018 Stacy Revere

It appears Aaron Rodgers can afford to forgo the discount double check this year: The Green Bay Packers have locked up Rodgers, their franchise quarterback and State Farm pitchman, with a blockbuster four-year, $134 million contract extension, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The $33.5 million average shatters the previous record of $30 million, set in May when fellow quarterback Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons inked his own nine-figure pact.

Schefter reports that Rodgers will receive $67 million from the Packers by the end of 2018, plus a $13 million bonus in March. Rodgers’ earnings over the next 12 months should reach $90 million, including endorsements and appearances, which would propel him near the top of Forbes’ annual look at the highest-paid athletes.

Rodgers just missed the cut on this year’s athletes list—which included prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018—with earnings of $21.1 million. (The cutoff was $22.9 million.) Despite missing more than half the 2017 season with a broken collarbone, he earned $9 million off the field through memorabilia, royalties and endorsement deals with Adidas, State Farm, Prevea Healthcare, Bergstrom Automotive, Sharpie and IZOD. Rodgers’ multimillion-dollar pact with State Farm is one of the richest endorsement deals in the NFL.

Rodgers’ $90 million year would have put him in a tie for fifth, with Neymar, among the highest-paid athletes on the 2018 list. He’ll likely rank even higher next year when the earnings for Floyd Mayweather ($285 million) and Conor McGregor ($99 million) plummet in the absence of the paydays like those from their lucrative August 2017 boxing match. The only athletes who will almost certainly out-earn Rodgers over the next 12 months are global soccer icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Also look for LeBron James and Roger Federer to challenge Rodgers near the top.

The last time Rodgers appeared among the 100 highest-paid athletes was in 2015, when he ranked No. 95 with $19.1 million, including endorsements. His best showing was in 2013, when his $49 million ranked sixth, after he cashed in with a five-year, $110 million deal from the Packers. Rodgers then ranked just behind fellow quarterback Drew Brees. (Tiger Woods was first with $78 million.)

Rodgers, a two-time NFL MVP who is entering his 14th season, put some of his past millions to work this offseason with a minority investment in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks. Forbesvalued the Bucks at $1.08 billion in February.

Below is a look back (and ahead) at Rodgers’ earnings since 2013.

Year, Total Earnings, Rank Among Athletes

2019: $90 million—estimate (Rank: TBD)

2018: $22.1 million (NR)

2017: $19.6 million (NR)

2016: $10.1 million (NR)

2015: $19.1 million (Rank=95)

2014: $22 million (Rank=55)

2013: $49 million (Rank=6)

NR: Not ranked—outside the top 100. Earnings include salary, bonuses, endorsements, appearances and licensing fees in the 12 months ending June 1 each year. Source: Forbes.